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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Brendan Boyle
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Boyle legislation would require fair hiring practices
HARRISBURG, March 22 – State Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Phila./Montgomery, has introduced legislation to prohibit employers and employment agencies from discriminating against unemployed workers in job advertisements and hiring.
"Currently, some job advertisements circulating stipulate that candidates must be presently employed or that unemployed need not apply," Boyle said. "I am truly surprised and saddened by the idea that employers are excluding thousands of qualified and capable workers from even applying for consideration for a work opportunity – especially in light of our current economic conditions."
Boyle said such actions create unnecessary roadblocks for Pennsylvanians actively seeking gainful employment.
More than 500,000 Pennsylvanians are out of work. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 44 percent of these individuals have been looking for jobs for more than six months.
Boyle's legislation (H.B. 2157) would create the Pennsylvania Fair Employment Opportunity Act to establish a complaint process within the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and authorize administrative fines for employers and employment agencies that run such advertisements or refuse to consider unemployed candidates.
It would also support efforts to help residents seeking reemployment.
The bill is part of JumpstartPA, the House Democratic job creation plan emphasizing infrastructure maintenance and repairs, restoration of education cuts made in the Corbett budget, worker training, and tax credits to help employers hire more workers.
House Bill 2157 awaits consideration by the House Labor and Industry Committee.